Washington, DC- The Internet Society today announced that Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken and Lise Fuhr have been appointed to the Public Interest Registry (PIR) Board of Directors. They will both serve three year terms, as will Roberto Gaetano who has been reappointed. These appointments will begin at the mid-year PIR Board meeting scheduled for July 2016.
Roberto Gaetano spent more than 40 years working in Information and Communication Technology including 20 years of Internet Governance experience. He served as Internet Policy Advisor for the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) and as Vice-Chairperson for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). He has been a member of the PIR Board since 2013.
Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken brings over 25 years of international development and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) experience to her new role on the PIR board. She is currently the Director of the Transnational NGO Initiative at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and is a board member of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations who focus on disaster relief and sustainable development programs.
Lise Fuhr, Director General for the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association – ETNO, has substantial experience in international networks and business development. She most recently held the post of Chief Operating Officer of the Danish Internet Forum (DIFO) and registry DK Hostmaster which operates the Danish top level domain dk, and is currently Co-Chair of ICANN’s working group on the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) stewardship transition.
Outgoing board members Maarten Botterman and Amitabh Singhal have served on the PIR Board since 2008 and 2010 respectively. An expert in Information Society policy and governance issues, Mr. Botterman served as Chairman of the PIR board and is currently Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the NLnet Foundation, and Chairman of the IGF Dynamic Coalition on the Internet of Things. Mr. Singhal is a Director of Telxess Consulting Services and Vcon Services, and was a Founder of Internet Service Providers Association of India and the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI).
“The Internet Society extends its appreciation to Maarten Botterman and Amitabh Singhal for their valuable contributions and years of service to Public Interest Registry,” said Internet Society Board of Trustees Chair Robert Hinden. “And we welcome the new board members, who with their diverse backgrounds bring a wealth of experience and knowledge needed to guide the Public Interest Registry in its mission of serving the public interest online. Both the Internet Society and PIR share the same vision that the Internet is a transformational force for change and we are confident these new board members will help us in guiding the PIR to achieving this vision,” added Mr. Hinden.
Effective as of its 2016 mid-year meeting, the Public Interest Registry Board Members will be:
- Roberto Gaetano, retired from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- Eric Burger, Research Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Georgetown site of the Security and Software Engineering Research Center
- Hartmut Glaser, Executive Secretary of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee
- Art Reilly, Retired from Cisco Systems
- Ingrid Srinath, CEO at Hivos India Advisory Services
- Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken, Director of the Transnational NGO Initiative at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University
- Lise Fuhr, Director General of the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association
- Kathy Brown, serves as liaison to the Public Interest Registry Board in her capacity as President and CEO of the Internet Society
About Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry is a nonprofit organization that operates the .org top-level domain — the world’s third largest “generic” top-level domain with more than 10.5 million domain names registered worldwide – and the newly launched .ngo and .ong domains and OnGood community website. As an advocate for collaboration, safety and security on the Internet, Public Interest Registry’s mission is to empower the global noncommercial community to use the Internet more effectively, and to take a leadership position among Internet stakeholders on policy and other issues relating to the domain naming system. Public Interest Registry was founded by the Internet Society (internetsociety.org) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA. For more information on the Public Interest Registry, visit www.pir.org.
About the Internet Society
The Internet Society, is the trusted independent source for Internet information and thought leadership from around the world. It is also the organizational home for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). With its principled vision and substantial technological foundation, the Internet Society promotes open dialogue on Internet policy, technology, and future development among users, companies, governments, and other organizations. Working with its members and Chapters around the world, the Internet Society enables the continued evolution and growth of the Internet for everyone. For more information, visit: www.internetsociety.org.
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